Tricks To Improve Your Printed Picture Quality

Digital photography replaced more traditional methods a long time ago. There’s no more winding up film or long waiting times for physical pictures to be developed. Now of course, we’re seeing 3D printers in every industry! However, like a lot of people, you might like to have physical pictures for displaying around the house. Sometimes, our pictures can come out looking a little worse than we hoped. Here are some ways you can improve the quality of your printed pictures.

Firstly, you could try adjusting the pixels per inch on your photos. The resolution on your print preview will have a pretty significant impact on the way your printed pictures turn out. The less pixels that are packed into a picture, the sharper the end result will be. The resolution a screen is able to display is actually a mere fraction of what a monitor can deal with. If you’re downloading an image off of Facebook or another online source, it will probably pack in under 100 pixels per inch. If you’re looking to print off a photo and frame it, you’ll want to aim for around 300. Before printing an image, open the print options and adjust the PPI. Just be aware that upping the pixels per inch can shrink the image size.

If you’ve tried printing off pictures without changing a thing, then you may have noticed that certain hues look faded, and far less bright than the preview. If this is your main problem, then you might want to try playing around with different ink and toner cartridges. I know that the instructions with your printer probably recommend using their brand and their brand only for the best results. While this is true of some models, you shouldn’t take it as a fact. I’ve found that some cheap printers perform fantastically when they have a more high-end ink. Similarly, you may be able to find an expensive printer that works well with cheap cartridges. Experiment a little, and eventually you’ll find a combination that gives great colour quality.

Finally, make sure you’re maintaining your printer properly. This is an especially important point if you’re using an inkjet model. These have delicate little nozzles which can easily become clogged with ink and debris. You’ll need to check and clean these regularly depending on how much you use your printer. Some people run into this problem, but continue printing their poor-quality images and documents, oblivious to what the issue is. At least once a month, you should make a point of running your print head cleaning utilities. If you don’t use your printer all that much, set reminders to print on it around once a week. Like a lot of machinery, printers need to be used to keep them in good working condition. Leave it alone for weeks at a time, and it can easily fall into disrepair.

Take this advice, and I’m sure you’ll see an immediate improvement to the quality of your printing. Having to put up pixelated or faded pictures is not only frustrating, but also totally unnecessary!